One Step At a Time
by LJ Fan
Summary: Rating is just to be on the safe side. James Potter is a simple boy. He takes life as it is, and is a very wonderful person all-together. Not. Follow James through a year of laughs, fights, and tears. But mostly laughs. ;)
1. Last Morning

**Author's Notes: **This better work! Okay, this chapter one, part deux. was mean to me, in the fact that they screwed up my font. And I forgot to add my notes in. Jeez. Ah well. Anyway, I suppose I should be explain. You are about to read One Step At a Time, a fanfiction following James Potter through seven years of Hogwarts, and if I get popular demand, up until his death. Now, if you ever read a Marauders' fic before, you may have come to expect a few things such as: James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus being best friends from the start and James noticing Lily right away and confessing his love to her. Nope, not here. But, I think I kept you long enough, so I will say just two more things: One, I will try to update weekly, but I cannot make any promises. Et deux:

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, never will be. Get over it.

One Step At a Time

There was a lot of things that James Potter would humbly admit to not knowing. He did not know why muggles liked to blast their tellies at three in the morning, when normal people slept. He also did not know why left socks often went missing. Yet, most of all, he did not know why Mums were insistant at waking their wonderful sons at five thirty in the morning. It was something James often pondered. Once tired of pondering, James asked his mother why.

'Because my little boy needs his breakfast.' Mrs. Potter replied. James wished to say that if he ate from five thirty until when he actually had something to do, he would never be able to fit in Diagon Alley, which would be quite the bummer, as he rather enjoyed the place. He decided not to answer though, because his mother was like a house elf, if you annoyed one, you might find something wrong with your next meal.

However, today was a very special day. Today was the last day he would have to deal with his mother waking him up so early. From now on, he was free to wake up when he pleased. Ah, the joys of freedom. Oh, also, James was going to Hogwarts for the first time today. But that fact was shoved behind the much better fact that he was free from his mother! At the thought of this, James finally began to wake up.

"Get up, son." James looked over his thin sheet to see a giant blur standing at the door frame. Reaching over for his glasses, James quickly put them on to see his father leaning against the wall, with a smile on his face, "Your Mum has cooked you a special treat and she says if you're not downstairs in ten minutes, the dog's getting it."

James nodded and slowly kicked back his sheets, revealing his thin body. It was a Potter curse, James' appearance. Most Potter men were short, not short short, like goblin short, but short, never could be a Keeper because they have to block all three hoops with their body alone. They were also skinny and pale. One of James' uncles, Poindexter, tried to break this habit by moving to the Caribbean Islands. In a month, he moved back to gloomy England with a horrible burn and no more heavy than when he left, even though he claimed to feast every night. Finally, all the Potter men and women had black hair. James' grandfather, David, told him that the reason all Potters had black hair was because his grandfather's great-grandfather tried to steal a sorcerer's riches.

'Women always ruin our lives, Jim.' His grandfather told him, before being hit in the back of his head by his grandmother. It was with the advice that James continually walked with. His mother always reminded him to be kind to others, his father said to never be kicked when he was down and to always fight back, and his grandfather shared that he should always fear women. Always.

Apparently, that was supposed to help James become a man. The very thought made James laugh as he finally got out of bed, letting his feet fall to the cold wooden floor. He stretched his body to its max, relishing in the sound of his bones cracking. He looked down at what he was wearing. It was just a pair of plaid boxers. He never really wore anything else to bed. Up in the attic where he slept, it was always so warm and stuffy. James moved into the attic after his baby sister, Alexandra, was born. He was only four, but the sounds of her crying were too loud for him to sleep to, and his parents refused to put a Silencing charm on her. James smirked, remembering how mad he was at his little sister for always getting the attention and never shutting up. Even now, seven years later, it was the same way. All she ever did was talk, mostly about some new drawing she made.

Pulling a white tee-shirt over his chest, James began to wonder if he would actually miss his sister. He doubted it. The little brat was always going through his stuff and making him play with her. For once, he would have mates his own age.

Well, he did have one friend his age. Frank Longbottom. He lived in the house next to James'. The two houses were the only Wizarding ones in all of Roger Street. As such, even though both boys were Pureblood, they knew way too many muggle games. James regretted entirely when Alex learned Hopscotch. It was an extremely foul game that annoyed James to no end.

It was on the thoughts of Hopscotch, that James finally went downstairs to get his food. Two flights of stairs later, he found himself in the kitchen, where his family had already gathered around to eat. Mrs. Potter looked up once at her son, shook her head in disapproval, and then immediately started to cry. Alarmed, James ran over to his mother, nearly stubbing his toe by running into her purse on the floor.

"What's wrong, Mum?" James asked quickly, wondering if did something wrong. He couldn't think of anything, but maybe he had forgotten. He was still half asleep.

"Nothing, dear," She finally replied, wiping her eyes with her robe, "It's just that you're going to leave me to go school and I won't see you until the summer hols." Behind her back, James' father rolled his eyes.

James, however, gave her a half smile, "I'll come home during Christmas break and write loads of letters. And if it makes you feel better, I'll even bring home all my friends from school, that way you'll have a year of trouble with me, compressed into about a month, then you'll never want me home again."

James' mother nodded sadly, "Okay, but you better write or I'll send you a Howler. Now sit down before your pancakes get cold."

_Women. _James thought, remembering what his grandfather said. _They're enough to drive anyone crazy. _It was at that moment that James looked down at his Snitch shaped pancakes. _But maybe they're good for something. _All other thoughts were driven from his mind as he piled his pancakes with what seemed to be half the syrup bottle. He quickly and quietly began to eat.

Ten minutes later, James was told to go upstairs and 'make sure he had everything'. While this seemed quite ridiculous to the boy, he did as told, not wanting to upset his mother anymore than she already was.

Once back upstairs, James fell back on his bed, knowing it would be his last time until December. Not that was he going to be homesick. The very idea was laughable. However, he was a bit nervous. It was a big change to knowing everyone on your block to only knowing one person in the entire school. James didn't tell his fear to anyone though, he figured he'd make friends soon enough. All he had to do was put on the Potter charm and find his way into everyone's hearts.

A bit bored, James went over to the only window in the attic. He opened it, feeling the cool Autumn breeze blowing back at him. He shuddered, but continued his mission. Outside his window there was a long rope that connected to Frank's house, specifically, the window is Frank's room. On the rope, near James' side, was a little pail. Making sure that he pail was, indeed, on his side, James ran to the small desk in his room and wrote a note on an empty sheet of parchment:

'**Come on over. I'm bored.**'

As he walked back over to the window, James carefully folded the note, so it would be able to fit in the pail without falling out. He then dropped the parchment into the little device they set up two years ago, and pulled the top rope so that the bottom rope holding the pail would go towards Frank's house. James stopped pulling the rope when it hit the window, but then pulled on the bottom rope a few inches, then the top one so it hit the window again, and then repeated the process until Frank came to the window.

Frank was the kind of person who blended in with the crowd. He had very sharply cut brown hair and was a medium build. However, James tended to believe that in a few years, he would be one of the tallest people in their year. He just had that _look _to him. Not that James minded.

It wasn't until Frank opened the window that he saw his blue eyes seemed to be filled with a sort of anger. He took one glance at James, then the pail in front of him and grabbed the note. He read it quickly, then picked up a near by quill and wrote a reply. A few moments later, he pushed the pail back with the new note.

'You prat. What time is it?'

'**About six, I think.**'

'Fine. Let me write a note to Mum. She's not even up yet, you know. And since you woke me up, I'm demanding breakfast.'

James smirked and waited for his friend to show up. About three minutes later, a much more awake (And slightly wet in the face) Frank pulled himself across the rope. The first time Mrs. Potter saw Frank climb into James' window in such a manner, she nearly fainted. However, for the boys, it was just routine to travel to their friend's house with it. Besides, if they fell (Which they might have done once...or twice...) it just proved they had magic because they would do something to protect theirselves.

Once Frank was done shimmying, the two boys went downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Potter was in the living room this time, but she entered the kitchen once hearing footsteps. She took one look at Frank and sighed, "Frank, how many times must I tell you that we have a door you are welcome to use at any time."

Frank just shrugged and the two boys started looking for food.

"Just think," James whispered to his friend, "We can do this at Hogwarts, too. Dad told me last night how to get to the Kitchens. Then we can have whatever food we want, whenever we want it. And Dad gave me an Invisibility Cloak so we don't get caught."

Frank grinned widely, "Wicked. We'll be able to whatever we want and not get in any trouble."

James feigned a look of innocence, "Well, maybe not all the times. We'll get in trouble every now and then."

"Detention," Frank asked, looking very unhappy at the idea, "But why would we want to get in trouble when we don't have to?"

"Adds a little spice to life, don't you think?" James replied with a grin.

Frank, however, just sighed, beginning to dread their first year.Top of Form 1Bottom of Form 1


	2. Saying Goodbye

**Author's Notes: **Blargensnitchel. My first update did not have any updates. I'll have to update this once I'm done with this chapter. Since you didn't find out _anything _in the last chapter, I will post it all now. ahem

One Step At a Time is a new story I created. It will deal with the first year of James and all his friends, enemies, and love affairs. It will be a seven, maybe eight parts long, story following them through Hogwarts, and then maybe after until James and Lily die. So yeah, it'll be long. I'll try to update once a week, but these first few weeks will be a little slow.

As for the Quidditch World Cup mentioned, I'm going with what JKR said in the Goblet of Fire. She has inconsistancies with dates, but she says it's every four years, but that would make the Cup in '93 and '97. Since she had it in '94, however, that would mean there would be one right before he went to school, and right before our little Marauders went to school.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it, never will. Deal with it.

One Step At a Time

Half a box of Chudley Cannons Crunch Cereal ('Crazy Crunch for Crazy Kids') later, James led Frank up the stairs, "Wanna see the cloak?" James asked, knowing fully well that his best friend did. He might as well have asked if he liked the Quidditch World Cup they saw just the week before. They still liked to talk about the four day game.

And the black eye Frank recieved, coming back from the loo, when he got in the middle of a fight between two grown men.

"Yeah!" Frank said enthusiastically. James grinned as he whipped out the cloak. He nearly cried with joy when his father presented him with the cloak. It seemed that Frank was the same way. James was just waiting for tears to come out of his little eyes.

"Want to see if it works?" asked James, "We could see what Alex is up to..."

Frank pulled a face, "Not really. Last time we snuck into her room, we were forced to play with her dolls and...never mind." finished Frank, lamely, his eyes going unusually wide.

However, James remembered, "And she made the little Alex doll and the little Frankie doll make little kissy noises as she banged their heads together."

"Oh, shut up," Frank said, looking like he wished he could forget the thought. It was common knowledge that James' little sister was infaturated with Frank, "Fine, let's go see what she's up to."

The thought of taking the mickey out on Frank was gone, "Great!" James threw the cloak over the two of them, and when he was sure that they could not be seen, they snuck quietly out of his room. The tricky part was the stairs. Once, Frank, who was in front, slipped, and for a moment, his feet were visibly seen. Then they tried to walk even slower. It took what seemed like ten minutes just for them to get to the floor below.

Luckily for the two boys, Alex had her door open. It appeared that she had the Wizard's Wireless turned on and a low booming voice James knew as Maxie, the other boy his pesky sister dreamed about, was singing about love and how beautiful the woman of his fancy was and oh, her eyes. The very thought made James roll his eyes. As his little sister picked up her hairbrush, James watched her sing the bridge of the song.

_Oh, certainly, baby_

_Magic is in the air_

_I see it in your lips,_

_Your eyes, and your hair._

James elbowed Frank and whispered very quitely and close to his ear, "Let's mess with her. I'll sing a bit from over here, then we'll move to the other side of the room and you can sing." Frank nodded curtly. James waited for the sound of the boy's voice to start again and started singing along, quitely at first, then slowly growing louder:

_So, baby, here I am_

_Tell me where I stand_

_Are you mine forever?_

_Will you let me be your-_

Abruptly, James stopped singing. Alex had just looked over at him curiously, then away. She tried to whistle and began brushing her long, straight black hair. The strokes were short, quite apparent to seem real, as if nothing odd had happened. Though he did not wish to admit it, it was quite shocking how much the two looked alike. Both had pale skin, contrasting with their hair. Her eyes, however, were brown, whereas he had hazel eyes. They were also both quite short for their age and looked much younger than their age.

After a few minutes, when the only sound that could be heard was Maxie ending his song. For a moment, James panicked. What if neither knew the next song? Their whole plan would be ruined. However, James would not dwell on that fact too long. They would just find another way to create chaos.

Frank hit James very lightly on his forearm to get his attention. He pointed to his left leg and raised it five inches above ground. James did likewise, then very slowly, they put that foot down. Then they lifted their right legs togethe, putting them down slightly faster. As they walked towards the other side of the room, they increased speed as they went. James put out his arm to stop Frank. They paused and then smiled at each other. The song that followed Maxie's stupid love song was one of a more upbeat tune. James didn't know it, but apparently Frank did, he was tapping his foot slightly on the carpeted floor. James, himself, jumped when hearing his best friend's voice.

_I tore the picture off the wall_

_Banished it from the place on the hall_

_No more father, no more mother_

_Swore I had no more brother._

_Now I'm free from the world!_

_Leaving behind work hurled_

_At me_

_Threw a Glamour charm on_

_Forget the boy named Don_

_It's not me!_

_Not me!_

Unfortunately, by this point, Frank was so into the song, he shouted along with it. There was no way Alex could not have heard him. Indeed, she did. She threw her hairbrush down and turned around so she could face them. However, she was about six inches to the left, "JAMES DANIEL POTTER!" It showed how truly angry she was at him. It was a common joke around the Potter family to call James "James Allison Potter". It had started when James' mother was about eight and a half months pregnant with him. She had chosen James if it was a boy and Allison if it was a girl. She had written both names on a sheet of parchment she kept with her at all time. When she went into labour, the parchment was still with her, and the Healer found it. She had assumed she wanted to name her son James Allison, and wrote that on the document of his birth. Fortunately, James' father noticed and fixed it quickly. It was still a popular joke, however.

"Where are you at!" Alex shouted still, "I know you're under that stupid cloak! Show yourself now!" James tapped Frank and made a motion towards the door. The pair quietly, but quickly, ran toward the door and flung themselves outside her room, "I'm telling Mum!" Alex ran after them, not knowing they were ahead of her. Unluckily for the boys, they had to run faster than Alex, who was right on their heels, and still keep the cloak on them.

Somehow, they managed to get into the living room at the time Alex found her mother in the kitchen, "MUM!" They could hear her screams. Frank took a deep gulp of breath, then noticed they still were under the cloak. He whipped it off them and James threw it under their couch.

James' mother walked into the living room not two minutes later, "Boys, Alex seems to think you were in her room, laughing at her. Were you?"

Lifting a hand to his heart, James gave his mother an innocent look, "Us? How on earth could we be in here if we were up there? And, to get into here from her room, we would have to walk through the kitchen. Did you see us go through the kitchen, Mum?"

"Why, no, dear." His mother answered, looking thoughtful as though she was trying to remember.

James smiled, "Well, there you go. We could not have been up there. I think Alex is just trying to get me grounded so I can't go to go school." He turned to his sister, who was trailing his mother, "Is widdle Alex gonna miss her big bwother? Awww."

James' mother gave a little gasp and turned around to face her youngest child, "Oh, Alex, darling, I never thought about how hard this would be for you!"

When Alex looked again at James, he grinned at her and waved.

"Well, Mum, I better check to make sure I have everything. And Alex, if you start to miss you, you are very welcome in my room." He and Frank stood up and ran up the stairs to his room.

Safely back inside his room, the two boys looked at each and started to laugh. After a few moments, Frank's laughter died immediately, "James? What about the cloak?"

James shrugged, "We'll get it before we leave. But not now, Alex will kill us."

The boys stayed in the attic for a little over an hour, talking about what Hogwarts would be like. Finally, they decided they could risk getting it. Luckily for them, no one was downstairs and they were back in the attic in a flash.

Only ten minutes later, James' father came knocking on their door, "Are you boys ready? The Ministry cars are parked outside so we can leave now." James shouted they would be down in a minute. He heard footsteps leading downstairs, then they got louder again, "Frank! Your Mum's downstairs with your trunk and says if you're not downstairs in five minutes, she's sticking you to a wall."

The situation would have been funny if Frank's mother hadn't actually stuck him to a wall before.

Therefore, the boys were downstairs in two minutes and ten seconds. It was no easy task dragging a full trunk down two flights of steps, but they managed together.

When they were finally in the two cars the Ministry kindly provided (The Potters' owned a four seat car that was mostly for show for the muggles. It was always in the garage that came with the house. The Longbottoms' just pretended to own a car.), they sped along the road. James barely took notice of how the cars seemed to dodge traffic. He had more important things to think about.

Such as, why his snitch pancakes seemed to be fluttering around in his stomach.

If only they would stay down!

The two cars arrived at the platform in record time. The Ministry workers, two drivers sent to take them to King's Cross Station where they were to also find them trolleys and take their luggage to the platform. Behind him, James heard a small sniffle.

James felt very sick. He knew quite well that if he just walked through the wall, he would be on the hidden platform itself. At the moment, though, the wall looked quite solid. His father clasped a hand on his shoulder and suddenly the tradition of the Potters came back to him. All firstborn Potters were taken through the platform by their father. Time seemed to go too fast for comprehension. He vaguely felt his father gently guide him towards the wall. James looked up at his father in time to see a very obvious look that seemed to tell him to lean against the platform. He did so, copying his father, and a moment later, he fell through the wall.

All his fear was forgotten when James looked at the scarlet steam engine. He was really going to Hogwarts. He couldn't help but grin at the thought. Then the moment ended and James took notice to all the noise of the students and animals and trolleys and everything else. His mother and sister came a minute after; the former pushing his trolley. James had completely forgotten about it. He took the trolley away from her, grinning sheepishly.

Frank and his mother came after shortly. James felt a wave of guilt, thinking how he got to have his father accompany him, but Frank could not. Frank's father died in murder. Someone, the man was never caught, bewitched his clothes to strangle him. He died in the basement and was not found for another two hours.

However, Frank did not seem to be thinking of this as he pushed his trolley quickly to catch up to James, "You ready?" James was about to respond with a nod, but someone behind him was sobbing and another one was sniffing. He turned around to see his mother trying her hardest not to cry and, surprisingly, his sister was shedding a few tears, too. Frank noticed and nodded, while he walked over to his mother to talk to her.

"Mum? I'll be back soon. Please don't cry." She said nothing in response, but quickly latched herself onto him in the form of a hug. He hugged her back, then pulled away. James didn't bother to look around to see if anyone was looking as he kissed her on the cheek. Then he turned to his sister, "Alex..." He didn't know what to say. He doubted his sister would even miss him, but here she was, crying.

_Maybe_, thought James, _she's upset about Frank leaving. _But no, her eyes were staring at her old brother. James gave her a silly grin and hugged her, "Take care of Mum." He ruffled her hair. She sniffed, but seemed to be smiling. To get him back, Alex messed up James' hair, not that you could do much worse than it was.

James looked over at Frank and saw he was finished with his goodbyes, "Well," James said, looking at his father, mother, sister, and Frank's mother, all in turn, "I suppose we should board the train. We'll see you at Christmas!"

The boys boarded the train together. They searched for an empty compartment, and finally found one near the middle. They had only put their luggage down when the door opened again.

**Author's Notes: **Tee hee, I left a little cliffie. Anyone want to guess who entered their compartment?

I'm going to start something where I actually _answer _people's reviews! gasp

Esperanza Fuega - You're my first reviewer! Um...not much to say here, since I told you everything in an email. :P

Miss Piratess - I don't think I ever read anyone making James and Frank friends, but I want to make this realistic. I just can't see MWPP all meeting up in one compartment and saying, "Woo hoo! Let's all be friends!" Especially with Sirius being in his family. (Hint, that's a clue for what's coming up in the next chapter!)

Jayde Green - Yeah, I am cruel to James. It'll get better for him. He'll be on bended knee thanking me. But...maybe not for a while...I love the snitch pancakes! I don't know where the idea came to me from, but I just thought it fit so well. As for the Marauders becoming friends, you'll see. If you want a clue, think about it. Have you ever had a best friend, but then later, you meet someone who you're better with? That's about as much as I can say. As for the rope thing, I think I stole it from Baby-Sitter's Club, but it's been so long, I can't remember. Speaking of which, I saw a TV show where that exact thing happened after I wrote it! ...Or maybe I dreamt it. I truly cannot remember.

Thank you all for your reviews! The more reviews I get, the faster I update! Just a hint. However, a warning, eight days until my school puts on Seussical. I must eat, breathe, and sleep it, so don't be surprised if you don't get an update for about a week and a half.


	3. Train of Thought

**Author's Notes: **Um...hi. waves meekly I am so sorry for the lack of updates. It's been over a month, I know. Life has just been very hectic for me. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact I wanted to get a chapter out before I headed to Vegas for vacation, you might not even have gotten this! So yeah, here's the chapter! Just so you know, this first term of Hogwarts is sort of like Goblet of Fire: everyone is with the wrong person. :D

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, sorry!

One Step Too Far

Standing in the doorway was a petite looking girl, looking at both the boys curiously through light green eyes, "Excuse me, I was wondering if either of you could help me...?" She looked very hesitant, as if she really did not want to be asking for help, but knew she had to. She held herself with a reserved nature. To James, she just shouted 'Ravenclaw!'. Obviously a first year, James suspected her to be a muggleborn. Most pureblood, even half-blood, women he knew walked tall and were proud of themselves. The girl in front of him just stood there, twirling her blonde hair on her finger.

"Sure!" Frank said, glaring at James for a moment. It was then that James realised he should have said something instead of just staring at her.

"Oh, of course, how can we be of service to a pretty little girl like you?" James said, grinning coyly, hoping that she wouldn't mind him being rude.

Luckily, for James, the girl smiled. A small tint of red came to her cheeks as she spoke, "Well, I'm new here and I really don't know what I should be doing. Are these compartments reserved or can we sit anywhere?" Her voice dropped a few pitches, and she looked away as embarresed as she muttered, "I'm a...oh...what do you call them? Muggle, I think?"

James inwardly smirked. He knew she was muggleborn, "The term you're looking for is muggleborn. And no, you can sit wherever you like. In fact, I believe we have an open seat that you are more than welcome to sit in...that is, so we can help you with any questions you may have." He grinned at her again.

The girl giggled, "Well, thank you!" She started to drag her trunk in, just as James and Frank lept up to help her. With the three of them working together, they had it in it's proper place in no time. When they were all seated (James and Frank on one side, the girl on the other), she spoke again, "Now that you mention it, I do have another question. What are your names?"

Frank spoke up first, "I'm Frank Longbottom and this is my best mate," James waved as Frank pointed to him, "James Potter."

"What's your name?" James asked, realising he had no idea who she was.

"Rizi. Rizi Daniels. I'm pleased to meet both of you. It's so exciting, going on an adventure like this. I don't think I'll get used to all the funny things I've begun to notice. Like how your owls carry mail! Wouldn't it be much safer to just have a person deliver it?"

James shook his head, "No, owls are wonderfully intelligent and they're very fast. Besides, better not go around saying bad things about owls, one might hear you." Using only his head, James pointed to his pet owl, who seemed to be glaring at Rizi, "Now, now, girl, we have to be nice to our new friends. I want you two to put this fight behind you and be very mature...er...creatures. Alright?" Rizi nodded seriously, though the sides of her lips seemed to be curling upward just a tiny bit.

"I'm quite sorry...oh, what's her name?" Riza asked, turning away from the owl to look at James.

"Penelope. I like to call her Pen though."

Frank gave a merry chuckle, "James thinks it's funny to give everyone a nickname. There was a brief time when he would only call me 'Fra'. Watch out or he'll start calling you Riz."

James rubbed his chin pensively, "Riz...I like it. Okay, from now on, you are Riz."

Riza smiled, "I like it. What do you know about Hogwarts?"

Frank and James grinned at each other and began speaking at once.

"They have great food!"

"Huge library!"

"Little animals, called house elves who clean up"

"Wicked subjects!"

"All the food you can eat!"

"Yeah, lots of food."

Riza smiled, "I think I'll like Hogwarts a lot."

The three new friends barely noticed the train pulling out of the station. However, James was quick to know when the food cart lady came around. He actually stopped mid-sentence when speaking about Quidditch to buy something to eat. The pancakes seemed ages off. As he counted his money to see how much he could buy, he looked at the two others. Frank seemed to be pondering what to spend his hard-earned allowance on, while Riz looked confused again.

"Erm, six chocolate frogs, three cauldron cakes, and a box of Bertie Botts, please." James waved his hand at Frank, telling him not to buy anything, for this was for them all to share. However, Frank ordered three Pumpkin Juices, which James totally forgot about. After they had paid and the lady left, the boys grinned at Riza.

"I think you know enough about Quidditch"

"For now."

"Right, so, we're going to explain food." James held up a chocolate frog, "These are the best kinds of candy in all of the Wizarding World. They're called a chocolate frog." With what seemed to be much practice, James opened the box in no time, "As you can see, they are chocolate, in the shape of frogs."

"Hence the name." Frank added.

"They're not real frogs, are they?" Riz asked, looking a little green in the face.

"No!" James quickly said. Sheesh, as if wizards were that barbaric, "It's just plain chocolate." He held the container with the frog in it out to her, "Here, try one. And once you pop it in your mouth, look at the card that comes with it. They're collectable."

Riz soon learned to love the chocolate frogs and was very excited indeed when the card she got (Merlin) scratched his nose, "I've never seen a picture move before!" Frank and James rolled their eyes, but ate their frogs. After ten minutes of switching and explaining the values of certain cards, they moved on to Bertie Botts.

"Now, as our guest," Frank began, "You must have the first bean."

"Well, alright," Riz said, reaching into the box to pull out a white and red striped bean. James was greatly disappointed, thinking that her first bean was going to be a candy cane. However...

"EW!" Riz shouted, spitting the half chewed bean into an empty chocolate frog container, "That was foul! It tasted like sweat!"

Ah, sweat sock. James had that once at the age of eight. He made his mother wash his socks repeatedly until they looked better than new, "That would probably be a sweaty sock then. Not very good, is it? No, of course not. Well, that was your first Bertie Bott's i Every /i Flavoured Bean."

"Sweaty socks? What about peppermint or green apple?"

Frank sighed, "Well that would just be boring."

"Not to me," Riz said, watching him dump some pumpkin juice into his cauldron cake, "Is it too late to go back?"

"Yes," The boys answered simatanelously.

As they were passing the countryside, the early rise (for Riz had been up since dawn from nerves) and the food were starting to get to them. James wasn't sure who was the first to doze off, but all he knew was that he was glad he was the first to rise. He did not want to be caught sleeping on Frank's shoulder, while Frank rested on his head. No, that would just look wrong to any passer-byer. He glanced over at Riz. She was sleeping against the wall, curled up with her legs underneath her, using only her hands for her pillow.

James then began to become more awake and tried to figure out what had waken him from his slumber. The answer soon became apparent. There were a group of people walking around the corridor in a group, that seemed to be saying something. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he realised they pulled their hoods over their faces so they couldn't be seen. As they neared their compartment, James opened their door just a little bit so he could hear what they were saying.

From what he could hear, it was just a group of people saying random things, but all getting the point across:

"Little mudbloods, come out wherever you are and play..."

"Dirty mudbloods, beware! He will get you all for disgusting this place!"

"You are not welcome, scum, leave the train before we get to school or else face the wrath later on!"

James quickly closed the door, hoping they didn't notice him. He looked over at Riz again, quite afraid for her. James wasn't stupid. He knew all about the maniac, Lord Voldemort, and how he was spreading panic about killing muggles and muggleborns. That was one of the few topics Frank and James did not wish to tell her about, though they knew they had to. Unfortunately, the time seemed to be now. Riz was staring at him, looking almost fearful, as though she knew something terrible just happened.

"James, who were they?"

With a sigh, James looked over at Frank. Best let him sleep. He could handle this by himself, "Riza, you have to realise something. The Wizarding World has its problems, just like the muggle world. There are some really bad people out there. People like...people like those kids who just walked by. They feel that anyone who isn't pureblood isn't worthy of their time and should be killed."

"Like me..."

"Yes, Riz, like you. So you have to be careful of them."

Riza took this news surprisingly well, "Okay...what was that word they were saying?"

This was what he hoped she wouldn't ask, "They were saying 'Mudblood'. It's a bad word and it means anyone who's blood is less than 'pure'." James felt it sufficient to use his fingers to quote the word pure. He hoped he could make light of the situation, but no, he had to be serious, "If anyone says that word to you, they are not your friends, alright?"

Riza nodded and the two stared at each other for a moment, before looking elsewhere. James chose to look at Frank, who was still snoozing away, not aware at all at how the situation changed. James envied him.

The rest of the journey to the castle went fairly smoothly. Once Frank finally woke up, they taught Riz how to play Exploding Snap. They played a few rounds (James won three times, while Frank and Riz both won one apiece.), then went back to eating the left-over food. Frank took the last cauldron cake (James didn't eat his since he found them disgusting.), while James and Riz worked on the beans.

"Okay, now I'm going to teach you a trick I picked up a while ago. If the bean looks really nasty, it's probably really good. If it looks good, don't eat it! As I'm sure you already know," James said, nodding to the chocolate frog box that still held her half-chewed bean, "So, for example, this green looks really nasty, but I'll try it anyway." After popping the candy into his mouth, James chewed a few times, then swallowed, a pleased smile coming to his face, "Watermelon. See what I mean?"

Riz picked up a pink one, and stared at it for a while, "I can't tell if this looks healthy or not. I suppose there's only one way to truly tell." She popped the bean in her mouth, then made a face, "Soap! And I know it's soap. My mother made me eat some once."

James smirked, "Hey, Frank, looks like your mother has some competition." Frank just smiled slightly, not saying anything.

When they reached the platform, the three friends noticed one thing. They forgot to get changed. This wasn't a problem for the boys, all they had to do was put on their robes and hats. However, Riza had to change into her skirt. They decided that the boys would put on their robes, go out first, then block the window so no one could see as she changed.

Unfortunately, they were the last off the train, and everyone had left without them. The three had to run to catch up and had most likely missed some important information. After they did finally catch up, they fell into line with everyone else, walking to who knew where. It quickly became apparent when they reached the lake. They got a great view of the castle and James felt his jaw drop. Sure, it was pretty and everything, but it was i huge /i He would really get lost. There was no time to lose though, everyone was climbing into a boat.

James climbed into one of the last boats, Frank following him, and Riz following him. Nothing happened until another boy climbed in. He was a very tall boy with black hair that seemed it hadn't seen a brush in years.

"Hi," Frank said, trying to break the ice, "I'm Frank Longbottom, and this is James Potter, and this is Riza Daniels."

"Severus Snape." And he would say no more.

They reached the castle ten minutes later, though it felt like hours due to the silence. The giant of a man who seemed to be in charge knocked on the door three times and a lady who seemed to be the most strict woman alive greeted them, "Follow me." She led the group into a little room, "Welcome, new students. I am Professor McGonagall and I will be teaching you all in Transfiguration. In a moment, I will lead you inside the Great Hall where the older students are already gathered. You will join them soon, but first, you must be Sorted. There are four houses you can be Sorted into: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While at Hogwarts, you will attend classes, eat, and sleep with your house members. They will be like your family. Be warned, any rule-breaking while you are at this school will lose house points, a contest where houses compete for the most points. You can also win points for your house. Now, I must leave you to tell the others you are here. While I'm gone, fix yourselves up." She left and kids all around James were starting to panic.

"How will she Sort us?"

"We have to do this in front of the whole school?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

After about five minutes of this annoying chatter (Frank and Riz didn't say anything, since they both looked too sick to even open their mouths), Professor McGonagall came back.

"We're ready for you."

**Author's Notes: **That looks like a good place to stop. I wish I could have gotten further with this chapter, but I'll need a whole chapter for the next part. Get ready, guys, the next chapter will probably be on of the best. Well, it'll be one of my favourites, at least. We'll get the Sorting and we'll get to meet all of MWPL. :D Yaaay! Hopefully, I'll get this next chapter out soon. Dependable on how long it takes for me to get done being the Easter Bunny tomorrow (The sad thing is, I'm serious), I might get another chapter out tomorrow. If not, I'll get one out next Friday when I get back!


	4. Fated

**Author's Notes: **Twenty house points to Magnolia Lane who found my little mishap of Riz's name. Originally, her name was Razi, but somewhere along the way, it became Riza, so I was all messed up on the name. I thought I updated that, but apparently not. sigh Silly computer. Oh well, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! Sorry it took so long, I've been trying to write a Sorting Hat song in school, and it just wasn't working. Hopefully, it works this time. Oh, and since I'm so bad with updating, I've decided to just to do the one year, then go back to writing one-shots. Maybe somewhere down the road (Like summer), I'll write more chapter stuff. Hm, that's my new resolution: get this done before I get out of school, which is June 2nd. Okay, these are getting way too long. Edit: Just noticed I also wrote the wrong title last chapter. I keep flitting back between One Step Too Far and One Step At A Time.

**Disclaimer: **I've said this already. I don't own it. This will be the last time I say it. :D

One Step At A Time

The students cradled together as Professor McGonagall walked between the tables. All eyes were on them. Suddenly, those flying pancakes James ate for breakfast were joined by the chocolate frogs that were hopping around his stomach. Oh why couldn't they choose a better time? He needed to distract himself. It was then he noticed that the older students were no longer watching him. They were staring at the hat on a peg-legged stool. _Ah yes, the Sorting Hat. _James thought. His parents had told him about this.

The famous Sorting Hat opened its brim for a mouth, and let out a cough to clear its throat. James stared and felt something grab his hand and squeeze it. This shocked him even more until he saw it was Riz, who looked a deathly pale, "That thing just moved!" She said in a scared whisper.

James just nodded. He was going to reply, but that was when the Hat opened his mouth a second time and finally began to sing.

_Welcome all you students_

_Especially those who are new_

_For those who don't know where to go_

_I'm here, designed to help you._

_First I'll tell you a story_

_Old Hogwart's famous tale_

_And how the greatest friendship_

_Was doomed from start to fail._

_Brave Godric Gryffindor_

_Sweet Helga Hufflepuff_

_And witty Rowena Ravenclaw_

_Banded together to teach their stuff._

_But something felt missing_

_Some just was not right_

_They needed a fourth person_

_To help in situations tight._

_Enter Salazar Slytherin_

_A very crafty warlock_

_This cunning fellow_

_Was not one to mock._

_They built this school_

_Brick by brick and_

_By use of each wand_

_Each lent a hand._

_Their school was quickly up_

_It was running all too well_

_Till came students less than pure_

_Leading Salazar to yell_

_He wouldn't allow it, no_

_It could not be done_

_Still Godric fought him_

_Until finally he won._

_Although the tempers evened_

_Rowena knew something wrong_

_She knew Salazar would leave soon_

_(So here's where I enter the song!)_

_I was Godric's favourite hat_

_Pulled right from his head_

"_Let's put our brains in this,_

_and let him think for us instead."_

_Soon I became the official sorter_

_A fortnight after, Salazar was gone_

_And sadly, for Hogwarts,_

_It lost that very special bond._

_I tell this story, year after year_

_Hoping to not repeat history_

_Though now I feel it again_

_Those feelings of mystery._

_Be careful what you said,_

_Remember this after the feast,_

_House mates are not your only friends_

_Be friends with other houses, at least._

_Now come up one by one_

_And slip me 'round your head_

_So that I may tell you all_

_And what house will hold your bed. _

Then the flap of his mouth closed and the students began clapping for the hat. He bowed to each table and then fell lifeless once again. Professor McGonagall then walked up to the hat, "When I call your name, you will sit down and I will place the hat on your head. When the Sorting Hat tells you your house, you will go to that table." James could do that. This would be no problem. If only he had a name that wasn't so near the back!

"Anderson, Lynn" was the first to go to the Sorting Hat. She seemed like a pretty nice girl. James decided to play a little game with himself to pass time by trying to identify the person's house. He figured she'd be a Hufflepuff.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Too easy.

"Appleby, Edgar." Hmm...he seemed pretty confident, but not in the evil way. Ravenclaw.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Black, Sirius." Slytherin. All Blacks went to Slytherin. However, the hat didn't seem to know this, as he was taking an exceptionally long time. Finally, he opened his brim.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Even Professor McGonagall seemed to lose her edge for a moment, though it might have been a flicker of the light. The students, however, took no time to show their concern.

"Black! A Gryffindor? That hat's lost it, Professor!"

"Send him to Slytherin!"

"Traitor, traitor, traitor..."

The boy sat by himself, now completely hiding his face with his long black hair. The Gryffindors were eyeing him suspiciously.

"Colbert, Daniel." Nothing, "Colbert, Daniel." No one moved. "For Merlin's sake, COLBERT, DANIEL!" Everyone stared at Professor McGonagall as she lost her temper, and a tiny boy nervously ran to the stool and tried the hat on. James didn't even bother to guess what house. He tuned the it out until:

"Daniels, Riza."

Riz took a deep breath and walked up to the stool, not looking at anyone. McGonagall jammed the hat on her head, which promptly fell down to her shoulders. It seemed to take a minute until a voice rang out:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James smiled at her as she walked to the table, sitting in an empty seat with two free seats next to her. Once she was okay, James lost focus, not caring until Frank was Sorted. When McGonagall said his name, he walked slowly towards the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" had been shouted again.

Now James knew he had to pay attention. He would be coming up soon. Now he didn't want to. He felt that if he even moved, his entire breakfast would be the new decor for the table next to him.

Moon became a Slytherin.

O'Shea became a Ravenclaw.

Plum became a Hufflepuff.

"Potter, James." _Oh, Merlin, save me. No, I can do this. One foot in front of the other. Good job, Potter. Keep going. There you go. _Now he was in front of the stool. He sat down an the hat fell right to his shoulders.

"_Hello, Mr. Potter. What an interesting mind. Has anyone told you that you're clever?"_

"Not lately, sir." James mumbled as quietly as possibly, as well as thinking it. He wasn't quite sure how you properly talk to a hat.

"_Ah, but you are. But I would say your bravery outweighs you cleverness. Unless you really put your mind to it, that cleverness will just go to waste."_

"So that means Gryffindor?" James thought, not even bothering to say it out loud.

"_Yes, Mr. Potter." _James was sure the hat was grinning at him, if it could have, "GRYFFINDOR!" James pulled the hat off his head, gave it to Professor McGonagall, and practically skipped over to his new house table. He was quite proud at himself for not getting worried.

James was met with a high five from Frank as he sat down next to him, with Riz two seats down. Good, they were all together. Nothing could go wrong if he had his mates in his house. The Sorting continued, but James barely heard a thing as he whispered to Frank that they could use Riz to their advantage. Since James had a little sister, he knew how girls could feign innocence better than boys could. Which meant that they would have to tell her about the cloak. He had just whispered to Riz that they had to tell her something when Headmaster Dumbledore stood up, with his hands outstretched. James thought he looked just like his uncle did when he came to visit. He made both Potter children hug them, then pull coins from behind their ears and let them keep it. His uncle showed off his magic to muggles as someone called a Magician. His mother didn't like him very much.

However, James could tell he would really like Dumbledore. He wasn't sure if it was the twinkle in his eyes or the glistering stars and moons on his robes, but he knew that this was a good man.

"I won't waste your time with words when I know you are all waiting for the delicious feast about to come, so I will just say this: let's eat!" Out of no where, the empty plates before them became filled to the capacity with chicken, and turkey, and gravy, and stuffing, and cranberry sauce, and a hundred other things that all looked delicious. Rather than think about it, James decided to try it all. He was on his second helping of mashed potatoes when the food disappeared, only to be replaced by every dessert known to England. James groaned at the thought of eating more food, yet, he made room for two slices of pie.

Finally, the food cleared away, leaving sparkling plates again. Dumbledore stood up again, "Well, now that we are all fed and watered, I will give the school announcements. The Forbidden Forest is called that for a reason, and no students are to enter without permission. Mr. Filch, our caretaker," James looked where he was pointed to an old man with straggly hair, a malicious grin, and a hideous kitten in his arms. His eyes went wide and knew to leave that guy alone, "has requested everyone to look at the list of forbidden items on his office door. We are now up to two-hundred and ten items." James looked back at Dumbledore, "And now, before we go, let's all sing the school song, and then it's off to bed. Classes tomorrow!" Half the school groaned, but Dumbledore seemed not to notice as he flicked his wand, making what had to be the first line of the school song came out. The three friends shrugged, not sure what tune to use, "Pick your own tune and let's begin!"

It was very painful, as no one was on key, nor even the same tune, but they all sang:

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_  
_Teach us something, please,_  
_Whether we be old and bald_  
_Or young with scabby knees,_  
_Our heads could do with filling_  
_With some interesting stuff,_  
_For now they're bare and full of air,_  
_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_  
_So teach us things worth knowing,_  
_Bring back what we've forgot,_  
_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_  
_And learn until our brains all rot._"

Everyone ended at different times, but Dumbledore kept up the words the entire time. When everyone finished, he whipped his wand again and they disappeared. He brushed his eye, as if there was a tear there, "Ah, beautiful. Prefects, lead the way to your house. Goodnight!" After that, everyone stood. The three looked around wildly, until he saw the smallest of Gryffindors being led by what had to be a fifth year boy and girl, "Gryffindors, this way please!" The boy shouted, and they began the journey.

It seemed to take an hour at least, due to all the food James ate. All he wanted to do was go to bed and sleep. He didn't even remember which route to take or which wall to stroke or which step to hop or anything. He'd figure it out eventually.

When they finally reached the tower, James took one look around the Common Room, then followed the male prefect upstairs to where the first year boy's dorms were located. It wasn't too bad, when he looked inside the dorms. They had a nice view of the grounds, a jug of water, and five beds. It was then that he realised he didn't even know who his roommates were. All he knew was him, Frank, and...Black. James glared into nothingness. Why didn't he go to Slytherin with the rest of his family? They didn't need him messing up for Gryffindor.

After James looked at every trunk, he finally found his on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, Black was the bed next to his. He looked at James once, then turned away.

"Too good to look at me, apparently." James muttered, rolling his eyes. He began to pull his drapes of his bed around completely to change when he heard:

"What did you say?"

James opened the curtains to see Black glaring at him, wand in hand. As if he could actually do anything with it, "I said," James repeated slowly, "Too good to look at me, apparently."

"Why you good for nothing..." Black's glare intensified, as did the grip on his wand.

"Go on, finish your sentence. I dare you." James stood his ground. He wasn't afraid of him. He could feel everyone in the room stare at them.

Black never finished his sentence. Neither was even sure who through the first punch. All anyone could ever remember was both boys seemed to jump off their beds, throwing punches. Frank was shouting for James to stop, and ran over to either pull him away, or if that didn't work, to just help him out. James could tell he was losing, but he didn't care.

Finally, the boys stopped, gasping for breath. Black had an eye to match his name and his lip was bleeding. James could feel blood pouring quickly from his nose, and he had what felt like bruises all over his body. Frank was holding onto James' shoulder, making sure he wouldn't go after him again.

Another boy with sandy hair rushed over, wand in hand. He looked at both boys, shook his head, then walked over to James, "Hold on, I can fix your nose." He pointed his wand at James' nose, whose first instinct was to flinch. However, the boy just flicked his wrist, "Constosangue fiuto!" He could feel the blood flow almost stop completely, thought it was still there slightly.

"Sorry," The boy said, looking sheepish, "I haven't mastered the charms yet."

James, however, was impressed, "That's great. Thanks. What's your name?"

"Remus Lupin." He said quietly.

"James Potter and this is my Frank Longbottom." James jerked his thumb towards Frank.

A voice from the other side of the room piped up, "I'm Peter Pettigrew!"

All looked over at Black, to see if he would say anything. If he apologized, James was ready to forgive him right then. No lasting damage had been done. Besides, he did have a good punch. It wasn't like they'd become friends, a Potter and a Black? No, that couldn't happen, but he would at least forgive him. It quickly became apparent he would do nothing of the sort, however.

Remus blushed and ran over to the silent boy, "Right, give me a second and I can fix your lip, too."

"Don't bother." He pulled his curtains around his bed and didn't say anything else.

Frank and Remus shrugged off to their beds and James pulled the drapes around his bed, then slid off his uniform until he was just in his boxers. He opened his trunk, and pulled out a muscle t-shirt, pulled it on, then laid back on his bed. This was going to be a great year, for sure.

**Author's Notes: **Wow! Finally done. What'd you think? I've been thinking about that fight forever, and I don't think I did it justice. Tell me what you think, please? As for the reason of their fight, it's kind of like Romeo and Juliet, act one. The servants just began fighting because of their families. Don't worry, it'll all be explained. Next chapter is going to be first day of classes, then after that, will probably be Halloween, since I need to start speeding up. And I swear, I will try my hardest to update in a week. I like updating on weekends, so it'll probably be next Friday or Saturday. Remember, reviews encourage me. ;)


	5. Lost and Confused

**Author's Notes: **Eep, sorry! I tried to get this out sooner, but nothing came to me. However, I really like this chapter for some reason. Probably because it's my longest one at over 3, 000 words. No applause is necessary, just give money. ;) Plus, you get to see the real character behind Riz. No one has mentioned anything about her. I'm still curious as to what you guys think. So here's the new thing, rather than trying to get out a chapter every week, I will update as soon as I get five reviews. That's it, guys. _Five. _Not twenty or fifty. Five. Do that, and you'll get a new chapter. Speaking of which (I don't want to write at the end of this chapter, so it's all going here. :P) I lied. Next chapter won't be Halloween, it'll be somewhere in between. I feel I need to introduce the other professors, but this was already really long, so I didn't get the chance. Any speculation on how you think the non-canon professors will be? Whoever can guess how my Potions professor will be will get their named mentioned somewhere. Now for the review mentions to replace my disclaimer. HA HA, I'M NOT WRITING ONE! ahem

**Magnolia Lane**:I love the idea, too, about them hating each other. No idea why. I know why they become friends (In my story, at least), but now I have to figure out where to put it. :P And I finally got to watch The Notebook. I didn't cry, but I really, really liked it.

**Miss Piratess:** Woo hoo! You are physic! What am I thinking now? You're absolute right! I was trying to figure out the best way to boil monkey brains! Wow, you're good. You made me blush with your comment about saying how the last chapter was something JKR could write. It's just nonsense, of course, but it still was sweet. As for the dance, it was wicked. Get this, it was a teen dance, but they played a lot of old good time music (Hang On Snoopy, It's Raining Men, Build Me Up Buttercup. I even 'tried to' sing to Madonna's Like a Virgin. They put a picture of it on their website and I...erm...look like I'm _really _enjoying it.)

**hottiesplomiegurl:** Thank you for the corrections! I'm so terrible at catching them, so I'm glad when others tell me about them. :D And I'm glad you like the Sorting Hat song! It just came to me!

I write way too many author notes. Whoops. But before I go, I'll write one more thing: I am desperately looking for a beta, if you couldn't tell by all my mistakes. :P

One Step At a Time

James woke up the next morning, extremely sore and uncomfortable. He blinked several times, though his sight was poor as ever. He reached over to his left, stretching his arm as far as it would go, but feeling nothing but air. Now on top of his soreness, he was also very confused. Where was his night stand that held his glasses? Also...why was he cold? James Potter always woke up feeling hot.

Squinting his eyes together, James realised there were other people in his room. _His _room, which was called such for a reason. Then a flood of memories streamed back into his mind and he collapsed onto his bed from being so inundated. Riding the train...getting Sorted...hitting Black...He was at Hogwarts! The remembrance of hitting Black also increased the pain in his nose. James knew without looking that it was swollen. What a lovely way to start classes...

Classes! James had forgotten all about them. What time was it? What if he was late for his first class? Oh, bugger, he needed his parents here to wake him on time. Stumbling out of bed, James tripped over his thick blanket that he had kicked out of his bed during the night, "Ouch." He said pathetically.

James' first thought was to just throw on any clothes he could find without looking for his glasses, but when he realised he was putting pants on his arms, he knew it wouldn't work. Soon after he began his search, James found his glasses on the right side of his bed. James was about to change his boxers, when he realised he was no longer in a room by himself. They kept making this thing harder and harder to cope with. James grabbed the first pair of boxers he could find, along with his white button-up shirt, pants, vest (complete with Gryffindor colours, which truly perked up James. He really was a Gryffindor!), tie, and robe. About to run into the bathroom to change, he saw a fellow Gryffindor taking his time getting dressed. It was the one who had fixed his nose!

"How much time do we have?" James asked him as quickly as possible, trying not to drop any of his clothes, and desperately hoping to remember the boy's name.

"About forty-five minutes, I reckon." The sandy-haired boy said, mumbling, "Breakfast starts at six-thirty, but most of the school isn't in there until seven, and classes start at seven-thirty. Or so my Mum said when she was in school."

Good, he had plenty of time left. Now if only he could figure out a way to find out the kid's name without asking him. It was ruddy embarrassing having to ask someone's name when you were already introduced to them before.

Still trying to think of a plan, James was stopped when the boy spoke up again, "What was your name again?"

James grinned. This was better than he had hoped for. Now he could answer the boy's question, then ask it again. Oh brilliant! "James Potter. What's yours?"

"Remus Lupin, also known as the boy who has yet to find a trick to remember a person's name. Other than looking at their name tag, of course. Can I trust you to wake up Frank, Sirius, and Peter if they're not up soon?" James nodded, "Good, I want to get a good seat at the Great Hall. I guess I'll see you later then." Picking up his books, Remus strode out of their dorm. Realizing he still had to get dressed, James ran to the bathroom. He figured he still could get a shower, they had a while yet.

Halfway through his shower, James remembered what Remus had said to him. He had repeated every other boy's name. How could he remember those and not James? How hard was that name? Shaking his head, James thought that Remus was an odd person indeed.

* * *

After his quick shower, James stood in front of the foggy mirror (Maybe his water had been just a smidge too hot, judging from all the fog in the room and the fact his skin was a very pink colour.), trying to get it more clear. Satisfied that he could now see his reflection, James went about his daily routine. First he got up as close to the mirror as he could, and fingered his chin, trying to find the even slightest hint of a hair. Nothing yet. "Maybe tomorrow, boys," James said to himself. Then he grabbed a towel and started drying his hair. Once it was dry enough, he ran his hands through it to try to make it lay flat. James had given up using brushes after he had broken one trying to get his hair to look half-way normal. Once happy with his hair, James started getting dressed. It was a depressing fact that he would have to waste what seemed like an hour getting dressed every day. At home, all he had to do was just throw on a t-shirt, and he was ready to venture throughout the world.

Once finished his 'manly primping', James opened the door to the bathroom and looked around. Frank was up, getting his things together. James gave him a thumbs up, which Frank readily returned. Unfortunately, Black and the other boy (Whose name either had to be Sirius or Peter, since Remus mentioned both those names) were still asleep. He decided he could do this one easy way (There were two easy ways until Frank ran into the bathroom the moment he left). All he had to do was stand in the middle of both beds, then say their names until they woke up. This way, he fulfilled his promise to Remus and he learned which name belonged to which guy.

"Peter," James decided to go for the easier name first, "Peter, get up." Nothing happened. He raised his voice a little higher, "Peter, get up!" Still nothing. Fine, he would use the other name, "Sirius, get up!" He looked in both directions, but neither boy moved. "Sirius!" If they wanted to play that game, James could play alright.

James walked over to the one boy (the boy who had NOT hit in him the face yesterday), and shook him, "Get up." He moved slightly. James pushed him again, "Time for classes! Wakey-wakey!" Finally, the blond boy muttered something about asking if his mother was making waffles for breakfast. This was just too far. He was going to be late for breakfast! So James did the only thing he could think of, he pushed the boy out of bed.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" James had to stifle a laugh as his fellow Gryffindor began to scream, waving his arms around. Looking all around, he finally found James, "Whatcha do that for?"

James shrugged, "Didn't want you oversleeping for classes and I couldn't get you up any other way. Sorry."

"Oh," He said, flushing slightly, "Well, that's okay then. I'm not late, am I?"

"Nah," said James, "You probably still got about half an hour yet."

The boy nodded, "Good. Thanks." And he set about for his day ahead.

James slowly walked over to Black. Didn't that name just say it all? Didn't the others see how truly awful he was? Luckily for James, the boy's screaming had woken him up, and he was getting ready, careful not to look at anyone.

Glad everyone was finally awake, James decided to get his books ready for class. Unfortunately, he had no idea what classes he had that day. Which meant that he had to drag all of his books with him. Hopefully his first class would be a free period in which he could come back and drop off all his books.

Stuffing all his books in his backpack (It was a tight squeeze), James sighed with how much his back was going to kill him after the day. James made sure he also had his parchment, quills, and ink, before zipping it up. The backpack wasn't anything fancy, it was the same thing he used last year. Because James and Frank had to live with muggles, their mothers made them go to school so no one asked any questions. Still, James was rather attached to his backpack, he even got his mother to sew his initials in it.

After admiring his backpack for one last time, James pulled on his socks and trainers. He was quite glad there was no mirror in the boys' dormitory. He was sure he looked like an absolute freak Lucky him. It was a good thing Frank came out at that moment, with his full uniform on. The boys looked at one another, then began to laugh. They looked hideous! Although, James was pretty sure he heard the blond boy laughing,yet James was sure he had no idea why they were all laughing.

Once Frank got ready, the pair left the dormitory. There, Riz was sitting on an armchair, leafing through her books. When she heard them approaching, she looked up, "About time you all got here! I thought you just left without me! Well, I got directions to the Great Hall, but I forget them already. So let's be off so we can get there on time!"

The boys, however, just stared at her, amazed, yet frightened at her chipper morning mood. James was still having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

Finally they set out for the Great Hall, "Okay," Riz started, looking to her left and right, "I think we're supposed to go down six flight of stairs, then turn left. But I suppose if we just keep going down until we can find the floor where we were last night, then just walk around, we'll be okay!"

This plan did not seem right to James though, and he was quite thankful when a funny looking ghost said he would show them the right way. They agreed whole-heartedly and followed him, until he led him off to first floor in front of a girl's bathroom, that seemed to be flooded with something that James prayed was water. When someone began to wail from inside, both hightailed it, and ran until they found a staircase. They ran down it, and luckily it ended in front of the Great Hall. They looked at one another, grinned, and then went to find free seats at the Gryffindor table.

They had just begun to eat the food on their plates when the prefect that led them to their common room the day before stared them down, "What took you so long?"

"We got lost!" James answered, honestly, hoping they wouldn't get in trouble. He wanted to get in trouble, of course, but not because of something like this, "Some ghost said he'd show us the way, but he dropped us off on the first floor."

The prefect hit himself in the head with a lot more pressure than he seemed to have wanted to, judging by the wince he gave, "By any chance, was this ghost colourful?"

"Very!" Frank said, "A lot different from the other ghosts around here."

The three friends were caught off guard when the prefect swore, "I knew I forgot to mention something to you guys! That was Peeves, he loves to play tricks on everyone, especially the first years. Well, from now till the rest of the week, I'm going to take you and the rest of the first years down here every morning."

James looked shocked, if not a little disgusted. He was treating them like five year olds, "No! We gotta learn to get around here eventually, anyways. Besides, I figured out the way now."

The prefect looked at him and sighed, "Fine, but if you want me to take you down, I'll be in the common room at seven each morning. I should go tell the rest of the first years."

Riz stared as he left, "That was weird. Anyway, what are our classes for today?"

"Oh!" piped up a small voice. They all turned to see Remus, who was sitting next to Frank, "Sorry, I grabbed your schedules." He said, nodding at the boys, "Er, I didn't get yours though," He said to Riz, "I'm sure some other girl did though." He passed Frank and James their card, then went back to eating what had once been a blueberry muffin until he scarfed half it down.

"Yeah, I should go find that." Riz said, "I'll be right back." Then she excused herself and went looking for the girls.

Frank seemed to be looking at his schedule, "Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic today. Transfiguration doesn't seem to be too bad. Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, and since she's our Head of house, I'm sure she'll favour us."

* * *

However, it turned out Frank couldn't be more wrong. It became apparent the moment she began speaking that she couldn't care whether you were a wizard or even a Muggle, just as long as you listened to her and did the work, which made James' analogy pretty stupid, as Muggles couldn't even begin to hope to do the work. It seemed that James couldn't either. After she killed them all by taking pages upon pages of notes, she gave them a match to turn into a needle. James got the furthest by at least making his silver. Apparently, this disappointed her, judging by the huge essay she demanded by their next class.

After they left Transfiguration, their class (Luckily, all Gryffindor first years had the same classes together) shifted towards the Charms corridor. One girl had been smart enough to actually ask where it was, so they had a mild idea where they were going.

Charms wasn't too bad. The professor, a tiny little wizard named Professor Flitwick, just did roll call and asked them to read the first chapter in their book Everyone did, of course, for almost five minutes. Then they began to chat about whatever subject came to mind. James was glad Professor Flitwick didn't say anything, because he really needed to talk to Riz.

"What happened to you?" James asked her.

"What do you mean what happened to me?" Riz asked, if only slightly too innocent.

James gave her a look, "Breakfast. You never came back after you got your schedule."

Riz smiled shyly, "Oh, sorry, Lily Evans and Emmeline Vance, you know, two girls in our year, asked me to sit with them. You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind? No, of course not. Yeah, go sit with them, that's okay." James said, feeling slightly hurt. Riz was his and Frank's friend! It's not like this Lily and Emmeline helped her with her robes problem, did she? But if she wanted to be with the girls, what could he do?

"Great!" Riz said brightly, "So d'you mind if I sit with them at lunch, too? Lily's muggleborn, too, so she knows what I'm going through, and I feel like I actually know what's going on when I talk to her."

James rolled his eyes under his eyelids so she wouldn't see (a skill he picked up so he could let out annoyance from his mother, without getting caught). He and Frank grew up with Muggles! They knew all about them! Yet somehow he felt his mouth say, "Sure. Maybe I'll see you later."

"Oh, of course! I'll sit with you at dinner. I'm so glad you understand!"

Then the bell rang to go to lunch. James was glad because he found he didn't know what to say to Riz. Did he understand? He tried to. How would he feel if he didn't have Frank and he had no idea what was going on? Pretty dang lost. So it was a good thing that she was talking to the girls! As long as it helped her. Good, now he felt much better about himself as he and Frank travelled with the Gryffindor first years to the Great Hall.

* * *

Lunch was very quick for the boys. Frank, too, had brought all his books, and they wanted to drop off all but their History of Magic one before class began. Unfortunately, there was only an hour of lunch. They rushed the meal, eating in only fifteen minutes, but that still meant they had to find their way to the Gryffindor Common Room and the History of Magic classroom in forty-five minutes.

* * *

It took them forty-six minutes.

Normally, they wouldn't care about being late by one minute, but they found that everyone around them was gawking at the front of the room. They looked and saw a ghost. He apparently had taken no notice of them, as he was already well into discussing what could only be assumed to be the history of magic. They found two seats in the middle and quickly took out their materials.

Unfortunately, James felt that if they already missed the first two minutes of it (One minute that it took them to actually get in the class, and then they spent thirty seconds gawking at the ghost, then another thirty seconds finding a seat. They also took eleven seconds to get out their materials, so it was even more than two minutes gone of the lecture. James knew this only because he had actually timed everything.), there was no point in listening to the rest. So he dipped his quill in his ink and began to write something on the parchment:

'_Frank doyou feel funnyabout this class to? Maybe it's just me but I don't trust ghosts anymore.' _

'**Yeah, I'm uncomfortable with this thing as well. But stop writing me notes, I'm trying to listen.' **

'_Why?'_

'_Seriously, why?'_

'_Fine, don't answer me.'_

'_Prat.'_

James decided to give up on having his best friend write him a note back and decided to take a nap. He could just get the notes off someone else later.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I lied, there are notes down here. But only one thing, don't yetll at me about the grammar in the notes. Maybe it's just around here, but my guy friends (Who are much older than James and Frank) still cannot get the idea of commas and other grammar ideas in their notes. It always bugged me, so I put it here to show the world. :D Remember, five reviews!


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